BlockBefore

Phelps, Kentucky

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Phelps census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41553. It stands on Left Fork Peter Creek. The Survey maps it on the Matewan quadrangle. 760 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 837 feet above sea level.

Phelps within Pike County

Population over time

3 figures

Phelps fell from 1,053 to 760 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20001,053
2010893-160 (-15%)
2020760-133 (-15%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 24 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

176 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 176 fires within 5 miles of Phelps between 1997 and 2020, burning about 13,994 acres in total. None started naturally. 52 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning78
Arson/incendiarism52
Missing data/not specified/undetermined34
Recreation and ceremony10
Fireworks2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2010Debris and open burning10 acresKentucky Division of ForestryBOARDTREE II
8 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresKentucky Division of ForestryPOUNDING MILL
8 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
8 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
28 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKentucky Division of ForestryPETERS FORK RD 2
22 September 2019Debris and open burning7.0 acresKentucky Division of ForestryHURRICANE CREEK
21 September 2010Debris and open burning46 acresKentucky Division of ForestryFERRELL ROAD
7 May 1997Debris and open burning14 acresWest Virginia Division of ForestryTUG FORK RIVER

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Pike County

Storms near this place

21 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Phelps in 21 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 11 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 4 flash flood, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2007Flash FloodPhelps$250,000US 194 near Phelps, US 119 at Johns Creek and Meta, US 460 at Millard, and KY 80 at Elkhorn closed due to high water. Numerous secondary roads also closed. Route 194 at Majestic Mountain impassable. A 50 foot section of US 460 and KY Rt 122 Intersection and the mouth of Chloe Rd collapsed.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindPhelps$15,000Numerous trees were blown down on roads across the east and southeast end of Pike county.
July 2008Flash FloodPhelps$7,000Runoff from a strip mine caused minor damage to the underpinning of a mobile home and pushed some mud and rock into a garage. Damage also occurred to the Phelps High School baseball field.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindPhelps$3,000Thunderstorm winds blew down power lines near Phelps.
April 1996Thunderstorm WindPhelps$1,000no account filed
July 2021Thunderstorm WindPhelps$500Multiple trees and power lines were reported down in the community of Phelps.
April 2024Thunderstorm WindPhelps-The Pike County Highway Garage reported several trees down along KY-194 between MM 55 and 56, in the Phelps community.
April 2024FloodPhelps-Pike County Emergency Management reported water flowing of KY-194 in 6 to 8 locations around the community of Phelps. Flooding was also occurring along Bones Branch and Abes Branch.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindPhelps-Dispatch reported trees blown down on Kentucky Highway 194 near Phelps.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindPhelps-A tree was blown down near Phelps.
August 2013Heavy RainPhelps-The IFLOWS gage at Peters Creek measured a 24 hour rainfall total of 2.91 inches.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindPhelps-Several trees were blown down.
February 2012Thunderstorm WindPhelps-Trees reported down on highway 194 and 632.
April 2011HailPhelps-The hail was the size of quarters.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindPhelps-One tree was blown onto power lines on Joe McCoy Road.
May 2002Flash FloodPhelps-Heavy rains caused Peter Creek to overflow its banks onto a nearby road.
June 2002Flash FloodPhelps-Three feet of water covered Boardtree Road.
November 2000Thunderstorm WindPhelps-Several large limbs were reported downed by strong thunderstorm winds.
May 2006HailPhelps-no account filed
May 2000HailPhelps-no account filed
May 2000HailPhelps-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Pike County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Jamboree1.2 miles20
Arrow (historical)1.8 miles24
Board Tree1.9 miles24
Coleman2.8 miles20
Calloway Branch (historical)3.0 miles20
Majestic3.0 miles23
Stopover3.1 miles23
Left Fork of Blackberry (historical)3.1 miles24

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on PhelpsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2481027The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 508814. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.